Means for cleaning the inking roller system of platen type printing presses



Aprll 5, 1955 A. M. BUTTNER 2,705,455

MEANS FOR CLEANING THE INKING ROLLER SYSTEM OF PLATEN TYPE PRINTINGPRESSES Filed May 51, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. A RTUR MAX BuTr/vm BY L g" p y April 5, 1955 A. M. BUTTNER MEANS FOR CLEANING THEINKING ROLLER SYSTEM OF PLATEN TYPE PRINTING PRESSES s Sheets-Sheet 2Filed May 31, 1950 INVENTOR. ARTUR MAX 50 7mm April 5, 1955 A, M.BUTTNER MEANS FOR CLEANING THE INKING ROLLER SYSTEM OF PLATEN TYPEPRINTING PRESSES 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 51, 1950 INVENTO'R. ARTURfl/Ax BUTWVL'R United States Patent MEANS FOR CLEANING THE INKING ROLLERSYSTEM OF PLATEN TYPE PRINTING PRESSES Artur Max Biittuer, Heidelberg,Germany, assignor to Schnellpressenfabrik Aktiengesellschaft Heidelberg,Heidelberg, Germany, a corporation of Germany Application May 31, 1950,Serial No. 165,250

Claims. (Cl. 101425) This invention relates to a method and means forrapidly cleaning all of the ink conveying members of the inking systemof platen printing presses.

The inking system of platen printing presses comprises, in addition tothe relatively large driven inking cylinder, a series of rollers,covered with rubber or similar materials and which cooperate with steelbrayers of smaller diameter. As is well known, these rollers and steelbrayers serve the purpose of distributing, spreading, and conveying theprinting ink fed from the ink reservoir to the inking cylinder. In thismanner the large inking cylinder is supplied with well distributed inkwhich is then conveyed by the inking rollers and passed on to the form.Depending on the size of the printing machine, this inking sys temcomprises a greater or less number of rollers and steel brayers which inthe known constructions must be taken out of the machine individually,the same as the inking cylinder, for cleaning purposes. This method ofcleaning involves considerable expenditure of time and prolongs theperiods of idleness of the printing machine, especially when theprinting inks have to be changed often as happens to be the caseparticularly with high-speed automatic platen presses.

The principal object of the present invention is to avoid the foregoingobjections by providing a practical and efficient method and means foraccomplishing the desired results by providing above the inking system adistributor for a fluid cleaning agent, the said distributor beingeffective over the entire width of the inking cylinder which has a wiperassociated therewith for removing the used cleaning agent with the inkdissolved by it. The distributor for the cleaning agent may consist of aperforated pipe mounted above the inking cylinder, the cleaning agentbeing fed to the said pipe under pressure, or the pipe may be replacedby a hose provided with a spray nozzle, the latter being moved by handover the inking systern. The wiper, which is preferably arranged underthe lower half of the inking cylinder, is connected to a collectingreceptacle and designed in such a way that it can be moved into and outof contact with the inking cylinder. The receptacle is preferablyrotatable and can be pulled laterally out of the machine frame in thedirection of its axis.

The built-in washing arrangement above set forth cleans all rollers in afew seconds by removing the adhering ink and results in greatsimplification of the servicing of such machines, at the same timeincreasing the efficiency and output of platen printing presses byreducing shut-down periods required for the cleaning of the rollers.

A preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which;

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic sectional view of the cylindrical inkingdevice with the new cleaning arrangement;

Figure 2 is a detail section along line 11-11 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a section similar to Figure 2 with a cleaning hose; and

Figures 4 and 5 show, on a larger scale, the wiper with the wastecollecting receptacle.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughoutthe several figures of the drawing.

Frame 1 of a platen press supports, in the usual manner, the lockingframe having the form 2. Platen 3 is movable about axis 4 toward thesaid form. Flywheel shaft 5 drives the inking cylinder 11 by means ofwheel 6 and the cooperating toothed wheels 7, 8, 9, and 10. The inkingcylinder 11 thus rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow. Theprinting ink is conveyed from the 2,705,455 Patented Apr. 5, 1955 inkreservoir to the driven inking cylinder 11 by means of roller 12;oscillating lifting roller 13; alternating steel rollers 14, 16, andrubber rollers 15. From the inking cylinder 11 the ink is passed on tothe group of inking rollers 17 which, in the well-known manner, aremoved over the form 2, thus inking form 2 for printing.

To clean the rollers of the inking system 12-17 by removing the inkaccording to the present invention, machine frame 1 is provided with anarm or bracket 18 which supports a container or receptacle 19 for a.suitable cleaning agent, such, for example, as gasoline, arranged overthe inking cylinder 11. According to Figure 2, this supply tank isconnected through a stop cock 22 with a perforated pipe 20 which extendsover the entire length of the inking cylinder and whose outlets 21 aredirected toward the said cylinder.

In the construction shownin Figure 3, the pipe 20 is replaced by a hose27 provided with a spray nozzle 28. A hook 29 provided on nozzle 28makes it possible to suspend nozzle 28 from the tank 19, so that themouth of the nozzle will occupy a position higher than the level of thefluid in tank 19, thus eliminating the necessity of a special stop cockbetween tank 19 and hose 27.

Under the inking cylinder 11, the frame is provided with a troughedportion or recess 1 extending continuously from one side of the frame tothe other, said recess being closed at one end by a side wall of theframe and open at the other end to receive a waste collecting receptacleor pan 24. This receptacle has a side opening and is closed at bothends. It is rotatably mounted in the recess and axially removabletherefrom through the open end thereof.

The side frame adjacent the opening is provided with a pivoted latchbolt 26 for the purpose of locking or holding the receptacle in therecess except when it is to be removed for cleaning. The outer exposedclosed end of the receptacle is provided with a hand lever 25 while theinterior thereof has secured thereto a wiper blade 23 which extendsacross the entire length thereof and projects through the side openingof the receptacle. The handle or lever 25, when the receptacle is heldin place by the latch 26 may be axially rotated to cause the wiper 23 tobear against the inking cylinder 11 or move away from the periphery ofsaid cylinder. Also the handle or lever 25 serves as a means forconveniently withdrawing the receptacle 24 from the recess 1 when,it isdesired to clean the same. The wiper blade 23 is preferably made ofrubber or any other suitable resilient material.

To clean the inking system, according to Figure 2, the cock 22 isopened, while the machine idles, so that the cleaning agent underpressure is conveyed through openings 21 to inking cylinder 11, or,according to Figure 3, the hose 27 with spray nozzle 28 is manuallymoved over inking cylinder 11. The cleaning fluid conveyed to inkingcylinder 11 is distributed by cylinder 11 to rollers 15, 13 and 17, aswell as to brayers 14, 16, so that it dissolves the ink adhering tothese parts. At the same time, by working handle 25, wiper 23 is broughtin contact with inking cylinder 11 so that the mixture consisting of inkand the cleaning agent is taken off and deposited in the pan 24. In thismanner every particle of ink is removed from inking cylinder 11 and thecooperating rollers and steel brayers in the shortest possible timewithout necessity of taking these inking rollers out of the machine.From time to time pan 24 is laterally taken out of the machine frame, byraising latch bolt 26, emptied and cleaned.

The use of hose 27 with the spray nozzle 28 has the advantage overnozzle pipe 20, 21, that the cleaning fluid can be directed against allinking rollers, as needed, and that it can be used also for rinsing theink reservoir. The latch bolt 26 may be designed in such a way that inone final position, it locks hand lever 25, and in an intermediateposition it releases the hand lever to permit wiper 23 to move towardinking cylinder 11, while, in the other final position it permitsremoval of the pan 24 from the machine frame.

The arrangement described provides a simple and practical cleaning meanswhich can be put into operation at any time without necessity ofdismantling the individual applies the cleaning agent to the inkingcylinder and the latter passes it on to the cooperating rollers andsteel brayers. The wiper is caused to bear against the inking cylinder,thereby removing the ink dissolved by the cleaning fluid and trapping itin the collecting receptacle. From time to time the receptacle can beremoved from the machine frame to be emptied. The inking system is keptin motion during the cleaning process, after disconnecting the conveyingroller from the ink box, so that the conveyance between the variousrollers and steel brayers results in a thorough cleaning of all rollersof the inking system.

I claim:

1. In an automatic printing press including a frame including sidewalls, an inking roller mounted in the frame, a form and a platen on theframe at one side of and below the inking roller, said frame below theinking roller provided with a substantially semi-circular recess closedat one end by one of said side walls and open for access at the otherside wall, said recess being continuous from one side wall to the otherand opening toward the inking roller, a waste pan of cylindrical crosssection mounted for oscillatable movement in the recess and having anopening in its side wall and closed at its ends, said' panlongitudinally insertable and removable in said recess from the open endthereof and its inner end, when the pan is in place, abutting the sidewall of the frame opposite the opening, a handle on the outer end of thepan for manually altering its angular relation in the recess andwithdrawing the same therefrom, latch means on the side wall of theframe at the open end of the recess for locking the pan againstunintentional withdrawal from the recess, and a roller wiper bladesecured on the pan oblique to its axis and having its roller engagingedge out of contact with the roller except when the roller is to becleaned.

2. An automatic platen printing press of type described including incombination, a press frame, a platen on the frame arranged for rockingmovement, a form on said press frame, an inking system carried by thepress frame having a driven inking cylinder cooperating with rollers andsteel brayers, the frame having a portion disposed beneath said inkingcylinder and provided with a recess extending parallel to the axis ofsaid inking cylinder, a washing liquid receiving pan mounted in therecess and slidable therein and removable therefrom parallel to the axisof the inking cylinder, and a wiper fixed in the pan and engageable withthe inking roller.

3. An automatic printing press according to claim 2 wherein the recessand the pan are cylindrical and the latter together with the wiper isrotatable in the former.

4. An automatic printing press according to claim 2, including, a leverat one end of the pan for manually rocking the pan to bring the wiperinto or out of engagement with the inking cylinder and a latch boltpivoted at the lever side of the frame for holding the pan axially inposition.

5. In an automatic printing press, the combination comprising a frameincluding side walls, an inking roller mounted in the frame, a form anda platen on the frame and below the inking roller, the frame side wallsbeing each provided with a semicircular recess registering with theother recess, one of the recesses being closed at one end and the otheropen at both ends and both opening toward the inking roller, a waste panof cylindrical cross section mounted for partial rotation in therecesses and having an opening in its side wall and closed at its ends,said pan being longitudinally insertable in and removable from therecesses through the outer end of the other recess and when the pan isin place abutting the closed end of the first recess, a handle on theouter end of the pan for manually altering its angular position in therecesses and withdrawing same therefrom, latch means on the side wall ofthe frame adjacent the other recess for locking the pan againstinadvertent withdrawal from the recesses, and a roller wiper bladesecured on the pan oblique to its axis and having its roller engagingedge out of contact with the roller except when the roller is to becleaned.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,154,002 Crurnp et a1 Sept. 21, 1915 1,531,030 Sague Mar. 24, 19251,730,302 Smith Oct. 1, 1929 2,054,618 Ford Sept. 15, 1936 2,201,790Rouch May 21, 1940 2.512.394 Sullivan June 20, 1950

